the telephone pole at the corner of Front Street and the first alley
north of Sycamore they stopped. A hastily improvised noose was slipped
over the Negro's head, and several young men mounted a pile of lumber
near the pole and threw the rope over one of the iron stepping pins. The
Negro was lifted up until his feet were three feet above the ground, the
rope was made taut, and a corpse dangled in midair. A big fellow who
helped lead the mob pulled the Negro's legs until his neck cracked. The
wretch's clothes had been torn off, and, as he swung, the man who pulled
his legs mutilated the corpse.

One or two knife cuts, more or less, made little difference in the
appearance of the dead rapist, however, for before the rope was around
his neck his skin was cut almost to ribbons. One pistol shot was fired
while the corpse was hanging. A dozen voices protested against the use
of firearms, and there was no more shooting. The body was permitted to
hang for half an hour, then it was cut down and the rope divided among
those who lingered around the scene of the tragedy. Then it was
suggested that the corpse be burned, and it was done. The entire
performance, from the assault on the jail to the burning of the dead
Negro was witnessed by a score or so of policemen and as many deputy
sheriffs, but not a hand was lifted to stop the proceedings after the
jail door yielded.

As the body hung to the telegraph pole, blood streaming down from the
knife wounds in his neck, his hips and lower part of his legs also
slashed with knives, the crowd hurled expletives at him, swung the body
so that it was dashed against the pole, and, so far from the ghastly
sight proving trying to the nerves, the crowd looked on with
complaisance, if not with real pleasure. The Negro died hard. The neck
was not broken, as the body was drawn up without being given a fall, and